The
good folks over at Jefferson's Bourbon (founded in 1997) just
love to experiment with small batch bourbons and their latest,
just released, and should be pretty intriguing. Jefferson's
Old Rum Cask finish takes Kentucky straight bourbon, originally
aged for eight years, and puts it in Gosling's Family Reserve
old rum barrels and ages it for an additional 15 months.

And
it's not like this is their first experimental bourbon. Their
Jefferson's Ocean Bourbon barrels sail the seven seas, cross
the equator four times, visit 5 continents and over 30 ports
all the while breathing salty sea air. Their Jefferson's Wood
Experiment bourbon ages in thirteen different environments
like new bourbon barrels, new wine barrels, wine barrel heads
on a new bourbon barrel, insert oak staves that have been
seared, oak cubes that have been slow cooked, etc. Trey Zoeller
and his father Chet are at the cutting edge of bourbon and
I just can't wait to see what they're going to come up with
next but for right now I am going to have to settle in and
try their Reserve Old Rum Cask Finish.

The
color is a golden amber and the nose contains gentle hints
of maple and banana and of course a touch of sweet rum for
good measure but does not reflect its time spent in oak with
any appreciable nod to the nose. The palate is sweet with
the rum coming forward followed by the banana and finally
I get a taste of mighty fine bourbon lurking in the background.
It has just the right amount of spiciness to make it a mighty
interesting mouthful. The finish is fruity, slightly oaky
and just spicy enough to leave a tingle and sweetness that
lasts a short time. This is a very nice sipping bourbon that
is flavorful and fruitful and mildly spicy that hits all the
right notes on the palate.

I
really liked this Bourbon with its interesting and entertaining
flavorful flavor profile. It would stand alone well enough
as a pre-meal drink and just sweet enough to make for an interesting
after dinner drink accompanied by a mild Cuban cigar, now
that we can actually own Cuban cigars for the first time in
50 years.

Jefferson's
Reserve Old Rum Cask Finish is bottled at 90.2 proof
and can be found for between $80.00 to $85.00 per 750 ml bottle